Life of Pi 3D

Rated PG127 minutes2012

Ang Lee's signature style—tasteful, measured, and devoid of personality—translates surprisingly well to 3-D: the unfussy deep-focus compositions draw you into the world of the story, inviting you to explore different fields of playing space within the frame. The aesthetic is a good fit for this fairy tale (adapted from Yann Martel's best-selling novel) in which an unlikely series of events leaves an Indian boy and a Bengal tiger stranded in a sailboat on the Pacific. The movie is engaging enough, though all the best visuals have been lifted from more imaginative movies—Cast Away and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button being two of the more obvious points of reference. As always in Lee's films, the onscreen behavior seems more like a collection of Oscar-groping dramatic reflexes than any recognizable human experience. With Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire) and Rafe Spall.
ByBen Sachs